Gone Forever
by Flameses
Summary: When Edward goes missing, Al searches Central for him to no avail. His searching is interrupted by the appearance of a homunculus. Bad summary- just read the story!
1. Prologue

_**Gone Forever**_

_An FMA Fanfiction_

* * *

Prologue

* * *

_Alphonse Elric sighed. Ed had gone missing just over a week ago. It wasn't the first time the two brothers had been separated, but never before had Al felt quite this worried. At least the other times he had had some idea of where is brother was, that he was alright. But this time, he had no idea._ somewhere_. But there wasn't, not anywhere. Not a set of footprints, none of the telltale signs of battle alchemy, no (Alphonse gulped) blood was to be found._ had_ kidnapped his brother._

_Ed had simply vanished off the face of the planet._

_In the past week, Mustang had sent some trusted officers -Falman, Fury, Breda, Havoc, and a few others- all over Amestris: Central, Resembool, Dublith, even Rush Valley and Briggs. Al didn't see how that would help, because he didn't think that Ed had gone anywhere voluntarily. He would have told his younger brother where he was going. No, Al thought, Ed must have been taken._

_While the military was busy searching, Al had taken up walking the streets of Central, the city he and his brother had last been. He was looking for something, anything, to lead him to his brother. Surely if his brother had been taken, there would be signs of a struggle_

_He wondered, over and over again, if it was the homunculi. Though Father and his homunculi had been defeated, they had not been destroyed. They had gone into hiding. After the first few days of Ed's disappearance, Al had convinced himself that somehow the homunculi_

_Alphonse was walking down a dusty alley when Hawkeye found him._

_"Alphonse, I'm glad I finally found you," she said, breathing a little heavily. "I've been running all over Central."_

_"Lieutenant Hawkeye, what's the matter?" Al asked excitedly. "Have you found Brother?"_

_"Sorry Al, no, we haven't," she said a little sadly. Her voice was urgent once more. "It's the Colonel. He's chasing someone or something through Central. We think it's a homunculus."_

_Al's eyes widened. "A homunculus? Really? Where? Can you take me there?"_

_The lieutenant nodded. "That's what I came to get you for. Right before I found you I contacted HQ. They said he was chasing the homunculus down a nearby alley- we can try to surprise them at the end and stop the homunculus."_

_Alphonse nodded. "Let's go."_

_As they both ran down the street, Al wanted to know. "Which one is it? Envy?"_

_Hawkeye shook her head. "We can't tell yet, it's got its face covered with some kind of cloth, only its eyes out to see ahead, and the rest of its body is covered by a cloak of some sort."_

_Al continued to charge forward, thinking aloud, "Well, we did manage to destroy Pride and Wrath in our last encounter, and Lust was already dead, as was Gluttony. I think they destroyed Greed cause he wouldn't follow Father.. But Father could have always made more, right?"_

_"Exactly. We don't know if he has, but there's a pretty good chance that he recreated all of the ones that he lost. This could be any of them."_

_They reached the end of the alley too late. They were only a few yards away when flames roared out the end of the alley. A lithe figure leaped out of the blaze, racing across the street and down the opposing alley. Colonel Mustang appeared out of the alleyway as well, stopping a brisk moment for breath. Seeing Al and Hawkeye, he panted, "Hurry, go after him!"_

_Alphonse took one look at the colonel before sprinting after the homunculus. Clapping his hands together, he swiftly touched the ground as he ran, calling up a wall in front of the fleeing homunculus. It didn't have much effect- the homunculus simply jumped over it. Holding back a curse, Al deconstructed the wall when he reached it._

_Touching his hands together and to the ground again, Al created a series of pitfalls for the homunculus to get through. He hoped it would at least slow it down- it was fast!_

_Carefully dodging the pitfalls, he finally got within ten feet of the homunculus- it had only been slowed down a little, but enough for Al. Close enough for him to pick out the ouroboros tattoo on his left hand with his sharp eyes. "Greed," he muttered. "Guess he made a replacement."_

_Greed then turned around briefly to get a better look at his pursuer. It was to dark in the alley for Alphonse to see anything but the faint light glinting off of his slitted pupils. Greed must have recognized Al, for as he turned back around to better his speed he stuck his middle finger on his tattooed hand up in the air as he ran._

_"Oh, come on, Greed," Alphonse shouted, panting a little, "I thought we were kind of friends, at least. Why so unhappy to see me? What are you doing here, and what have you done with Brother?"_

_"Sorry, kid, just doing a little business in the city," replied the familiar voice._

_"I thought you didn't work for your "Father", as there's nothing in it for you! Or is that the old Greed?"_

_"There isn't, and I do not work for my so called "Father"," came the reply. "As you said, there isn't anything in it for me. I flew the coop once again as soon as I was... reincarnated."_

_A little confused. Al called back, "Well, do you know what they're gonna do with my brother?"_

_Greed stopped. So did Al, keeping his distance._

_Greed turned. "Yeah, I know what they did with your brother."_

_Al paled. "'Did'? What's that supposed to mean? You mean they already did something to him? Is he OK?"_

_Greed chuckled in a way that Al didn't like. "Heh heh.. Trust me, kid, he's better than 'OK'."_

_Then why does the way you say it make me feel like doing just the opposite of trusting you?"_

_"Because you can't believe anything without your darling brother to tell you it's true."_

_With a cry, Al lunged at Greed, clasping his hands together and transmuting a curved dagger from the wall. He slashed as hard and fast as he could, but Greed's Ultimate Shield was always faster. Al leaped back, transmuting a sword from the ground. Still again he slashed, backhanded, and swept his blade in circles, trying desperately to find an opening in Greed's defense, or the Ultimate Shield coming up too slowly. Still, Greed's technique was flawless._

_Al discarded the sword and went for hand-to-hand combat, his best method of attack. Not even Edward could beat him hand-to-hand. He threw a quick punch at Greed's throat, which Greed blocked with his palm. Al blocked both of Greed's attacks with his forearms, then flipped backwards. Coming in with a series of kicks and hand jabs, Alphonse beat Greed back a little. Calling up the Ultimate Shield on his hands and lower arms, Greed returned with a double-handed chop. Ducking the blow, Al spotted a minute opening. With a triumphant cry, he threw his fist forward towards Greed's throat. Recovering faster than Al expected, Greed caught him in the ribs with a fast punch before Al's blow could land, and swept the winded Al's feet out from under him with a sweep of his leg._

_Gasping, Al, still flat on his back, swiftly clapped his hands together and transmuted a dragon-handled spear from the dirt, a trick he had picked up from his brother. Bringing it up to guard his now-vulnerable self, he accidentally slashed the cloth hiding Greed's face. As the cloth fell, Al realized why Greed's voice had been familiar: it had reminded him not of the old Greed, but of Edward._

_The cloth fell to reveal the wickedly grinning face of his brother._

* * *

Alphonse sat up in bed, covered in sweat. He sat panting for a few minutes before getting out of his sweat-soaked sheets and going over the the mirror. Splashing his face with icy water, he said quietly, "Thank goodness that was a dream. I thought for sure it was real.."

Looking over at the door out into the hallway of the house he shared with his brother, he narrowed his eyes a slight bit. "Maybe I should check, just in case," he mumbled.

Walking out into the hall, he made his way down to the kitchen. Seeing Ed lounging on a chair by the table, he let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in relief. "Brother," he began, "I had the strangest dream. You see, first you were missing, and then I was chasing this homunculus, Greed, and it turned out to be you."

Ed's blond head turned. A wicked gleam lit in his slit-pupiled eyes as he absentmindedly scratched his head with a tattooed left hand.

"Really?" said Greed with a grin, "What a strange dream."

Al backed up a step. "What? Greed? But I thought- a dream- Brother?" he said before collapsing onto the floor.

Greed stood. "I would say sorry, but I'm really not. Anyways, I didn't mean to, uh, heh, _disturb_ you. It was your brother, you see, he would stop nagging at me until I came by to check on you. He really can be pretty annoying, can't he?" He said the last line more like a statement than a question, before hopping over Al and walking out the door.

* * *

**The prologue of a FMA fanfic I hope to write. As in, continue. The big problem with my writing is that I am never able to continue. I usually lose interest, procrastinate too much, and end up not knowing how to continue the story.**

I REALLY want to continue this.. I really loved this as soon as I came up with it. It actually started out as a dream last night. Yes, this is a bit strange, but I dreamed that I was made into Greed, among other things. It was a great dream, and very weird! My family was kinda like "Oh no, she's Greed now," and stuff. Like they even know who that is in real life.. Anyways, it was a great dream!

If anyone reads this and likes it, please yell at me if I fall behind, and feel free to give me ideas as the story goes along.

Just so you know, if Al acts a little OOC when chasing/fighting Greed, it's cause he's so dang angry. They kidnapped his brother, after all.

Any other questions, please comment! Please leave your reviews!

**Story named after the 3 Days Grace song "Gone Forever"**


	2. 9 Days Earlier

_Gone Forever_

_an FMA Fanfiction_

_Chapter 1:_

_9 Days Earlier_

* * *

The day my brother died, it rained.

* * *

_nine days earlier_

Edward and Alphonse Elric were walking the streets of Central on one of their few days of relaxation. It was the early evening and the stars were just coming out, though still very bright.

The Elric brothers laughed and joked about various things. To name one, Breda had cowered on the Colonel's desk when Hawkeye brought Black Hayate in to work that morning. It had taken all of Fury's coaxing and Hawkeye's promise to never bring her dog in to HQ again to finally calm him down.

As they admired the various antiques in shops and just the general atmosphere, their walk had taken them far from their apartment.

"Hey, Brother," Al said, "Don't you think it's about time we were going home? It's getting a little late."

Looking up at the sky, Ed sighed. "Yeah, I guess it is. It's gonna be pretty late by the time we get home. Let's get going." He took a few steps before stopping again and looking up. "Will ya look at the stars? They sure are bright tonight."

"Yeah," Alphonse agreed. "They're really beautiful tonight. Look, there's Orion, and there's Cassiopeia,"

he said, pointing.

"And there's the Big and Little Dippers. Polaris, the North Star," Edward added. "Yeah, I could look at them all night."

"Brother, look!" Al said. "there's a shooting star!"

Ed chuckled. "Make a wish, Al."

"Oh, I am," replied his brother. He closed his eyes tightly and wished as hard as he could. _I wish that Brother and I are never separated again, and that things will always go well from now on. I mean, I wish that nothing bad happens ever again! _

He stood there for a few more moments, just thinking about good times.

"Hey, Al, are you done yet?" Edward asked with a grin. "That's a pretty long wish you got there. Hope I didn't interrupt anything?"

"Nah, it's fine," Al replied. "I was done."

"So, what'd you wish for?" Ed wanted to know.

"Ed, you know I can't tell you that, wishes are secret, and if I tell you, it won't come true!"

"Oh, alright. Well, I'll tell you mine!"

"Brother, no, you're not supposed to-"

"Don't worry, Al, it'll be fine!"

"But I heard that bad things happen when you tell people your wish, besides it not coming true!"

"That's just superstition, Al. Anyways, I didn't really make a wish, more like I put in a request to whoever's in charge of all that wish stuff. I told them that everything is fine now, and that I really hope that things stay this way for a long time. I promise, Al, we'll never be separated again," Ed said with a grin.

"That's really great, but what if your telling me your wish canceled out mine?"

"Why, what did you wish for?"

"I'm not telling!"

"Alright, fine, I won't ask anymore. That's your business."

"Thanks, Brother," Al said gratefully.

"No problem," replied his older brother.

"Though I still think something bad is going to happen to you. We should get home soon."

"WHAT?! I tell ya, Al, nothing bad's going to happen!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

It continued like that for sometime, until the brothers both cooled off a little and resumed enjoying their walk home. Al didn't notice until after a while that his brother's steps had slowed, almost to a stop behind him until they stopped altogether. _Probably looking at the stars again_, he thought, turning around.

No one was behind him.

"Brother?" Al asked worriedly. "Ed? Edward!" His shouts grew louder and more frantic with each one.

But no one answered. His brother was gone.

* * *

On the walk home, Edward walked slightly behind his younger brother. Every time he saw Al, he couldn't help but stare at him. It was still so strange, but wonderful, seeing him in the flesh again. He shook his head in wonder. He was just so _happy_.

As he walked, he found himself gazing at the stars again. They really were bright. Not concentrating on walking anymore, he ended up slowing to a stop. _Are they usually this bright? _he wondered, _or have I just never taken the time to look at them before?_

He stood, staring for a few more moments.. Before a hand swiftly covered his mouth.

Instinctively, he moved to clap his hands together, but his attacker was one step ahead of him. They jerked his hands away from each other and kept them there. Ed struggled, bit, fought, and kicked, trying to shout to his brother for help. He pulled one arm free and attempted to pull the hand away from his face. He loosened it a little, and prepared to shout "Al!", but before he could do so, a heavy blow struck the side of his head. _Al, run, _he thought wearily, before everything went black.

* * *

Alphonse frantically searched for his brother. He backtracked, calling Edward's name everywhere he went. But there was no sign of him. _I'm not that far from HQ,_ he thought, taking off down the street. _Maybe the Colonel hasn't left yet, and I can get his help!_ Fueled by this new determination, he increased his speed and kept going.

* * *

"Fullmetal is WHAT?!" Colonel Roy Mustang roared.

"Please, Colonel, he just disappeared. I can't find him anywhere," Al said worriedly.

"Everyone, let's calm down," Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye said firmly. "Take a deep breath. Alphonse, what exactly happened?"

Doing as th lieutenant ordered, Al breathed and began. "Well, Brother and I were walking around Central, and we were just on our way home when I realized that he wasn't walking with me anymore. I backtracked and searched all over the area, but I- I couldn't find any trace of him.. He was just.. Gone."

Mustang ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "Fury, Fallman," he named the two others in the room. "Get the others and search the area where Al last saw Fullm- I mean Edward. Al, where did you say you last remember him walking with you again?"

Alphonse gulped. "I think somewhere near that tea shop on 4th Street, I think."

"You heard him," Mustang ordered. "Go search the area and report back in two hours." He rubbed his face tiredly and sat down at his desk with a muffled groan. A faint, then loud tapping at the window betrayed the fact that it had begun to rain.

"It'll be alright, Al, we'll find him," Hawkeye reassured Alphonse, seeing his terrified expression. She pulled him into a tight hug.

Al hugged back, closing his eyes. Even the sky was crying. _Brother,_ he thought desperately, _why did you have to tell me your wish? _

* * *

_Three hours later_

Edward woke up, rubbing a sore knot in the side of his head. _Where.. Where am I? _He wondered, trying to take in his surroundings.

He sat up. It was much to dark to see.

A light flickered to life overhead. Ed squinted against the sudden brightness. Shadowy figures surrounded him. As his vision grew better, he recognized the figure closest to him. "Envy." he snarled. "What do you want?"

"Oh, it's not what I want, it's what Father wants," the homunculus replied. He grinned. "Fullmetal pipsqueak," he added.

Edward growled and lunged at Envy, then dropped, clutching his side. He brought his hand away to see it wet with a dark liquid. _Blood,_ he thought, _my blood. Did Envy say Father? What.. What does he want? _He was so dizzy..._ It must be the blood loss. But I must.. stay.. awake._

Grunting with effort, Edward brought himself, swaying, to his feet. Looking around, he locked his vision on the figure in the center of the room. The figure was seated in a throne-like chair, surveying him calmly. ""Father"," Ed spat. "What do you want with me?"

"So blunt," Father sighed. "Allow me to be less so."

Father stood. "Edward, as you can see, I am replacing my children, the ones that you and your friends so kindly destroyed. Envy still survives, the last remaining of my original group."

"Not if I can help it," Ed growled, lurching towards Envy and clapping his hands together.

"That will not do," Father said calmly. A stone chair rose from the ground behind Edward's knees, causing him to fall back into it. He tried to stand back up, but the chair spun to face Father, and the armrests crossed to hold Edward's hands, and more stone bonds secured the rest of his body.

"Oh, come on," Edward said, struggling."

"Well now," Father said, "We can't very well have you dying of blood loss, now, can we?" Ignoring Ed's protests, he continued. "Now where was I? Ahh, yes."

"I have Envy, as you know." The named homunculus stepped forward out of the shadows, grinning wickedly.

"Gluttony." A short, fat, grinning bald homunculus waddled out of the shadows.

"Pride." A young, raven-haired man.

"Wrath." A female child, green eyes glinting viciously.

"Sloth." Another man, yawning, stepped forward.

"And Lust." A tall, beautiful woman.

"What about Greed?" Edward taunted, seeing that Father was finished naming. "Decided not to reincarnate him again, seeing as he kept disobeying your orders?"

"I am giving Greed another chance," Father replied. "That's what I need your help for."

"What? How could _I_ possibly help to bring Greed- oh." It dawned on him. His eyes widened in fear and fury. "WHAT?! There is no absolute way that you are going to use my body as a vessel for Greed. No WAY, you hear me? You're crazy! And besides, I will NOT let you! NO WAY!!"

Father grinned. "But what are you going to do about it, dear boy? Well, I suppose you may die, but I doubt that. You're too strong for that. Or are you too weak to survive?" He chuckled. "You're finished, Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist. Your body belongs to me now. Or should I say, it belongs to Greed."

Edward struggled even harder. "No way, you bastard! I- I can't become Greed. Do you understand that? Al needs me! I promised him that we wouldn't be separated again! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" He broke the stone bonds binding his arms and started to bring his hands together.

Father shook his head. "I told you, we can't have that." The stone chair widened, grasping Ed's hands and pulling them apart until they were sticking straight out on either side of his body. "You're going to be difficult aren't you?" Father said over Ed's yells. He sighed. "The more you struggle, the worse your final moments will be. Why don't you just go out in peace?"

Father closed his eyes. A third eye in his forehead snapped open, and from it dripped a single drop of a red substance. He caught the Philosopher's Stone in one hand and walked towards Edward. The closer he got, the louder Ed yelled and the harder he fought.

"Now, now," Father said, stopping right in front of Edward. "I told you not to struggle." With a small blade he transmuted from the ground, he slashed a long, shallow cut in Edward's forehead. Ed shook his head back and forth, frantically trying to made it too hard for Father to touch him.

"I said STOP." Father commanded, grabbing a hold of Edward's head and holding it still. Edward's eyes widened. "I was having fun until you made this so difficult," Father informed him. "I grow tired of you. Good bye, Edward Elric."

He dripped the Stone onto Edward's forehead and stepped away.

--

_Edward screamed._

_Vomiting blood, he felt as though he was being stabbed by millions of knives at once. His head felt as though it would explode._

_His eyes flew open. He was surrounded by.. He didn't know how to describe it. It was as though he could see the wind, blowing all in different directions. It was chaos. He heard a chuckle behind him. Whirling around, he found himself face-to-face with a giant.. face._

_"Well then," it chuckled. "A child. Hand over your body, small one. I plan to put it to good use!"_

_"Sorry, Greed," Edward replied. "You can't have it. I have things I need to do. I made a promise! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL?!"_

_"A promise?" Greed laughed. "That means nothing. You don't exist anymore! Your body is mine! Now don't fight me, that makes it annoying." The face opened its mouth, intending to swallow Edward whole._

_Edward made a split-second decision. "Hey, Greed," he called. "Wait just a sec. I wanna make a deal."_

_The face paused. "A deal?" it asked. "What kind of deal?"_

_"You said you don't want me to fight you. Well, I won't. You can have the body. Just leave my soul alone, alright? Leave me here, and I won't fight you."_

_The face frowned. "Do you realize how annoying that will be? You'll just be a voice inside of my head. You'll just bother me, and you won't be able to do anything. How does that benefit you? I thought humans liked to take the easy way out."_

_"Not this human," Edward replied. "Come on, are you gonna take the deal, or leave it? Oh, and you probably don't wanna tell Father about our little deal, he might just destroy you again." He winced, as a razor-sharp blow pierced right through his chest._

_"Don't worry about Father- I plan on running off as soon as I get the chance. The old fool- believing that I'll behave on my second chance. Serving him holds no benefit for me. I like your style, kid, cutting me a deal. And I'm not in the mood for a fight. Very well, I'll take your deal," the voice grumbled. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood, with getting a new body and all."_

_Edward gave a pained grin as the face turned. He closed his eyes. "Sorry, Al, this is the closest I could get."_

_A single tear rolled down his cheek._

--

Meanwhile, Father watched as the boy continued to spout blood. "Greed, what's taking so long? Is he really putting up that much of a fight?" he asked quietly. Just as he thought Greed had lost it, the boy's eyes snapped open.

Looking at his hands, Greed looked up at Father through slitted golden pupils. "Well, pops? Aren't you going to let me stand up?" he asked.

Father raised his eyebrows. "Welcome, Greed," he said as the restraining stone removed itself. Greed stood, rubbing his left hand. It itched a little. Greed looked at it, and saw the ouroboros tattoo. Grinning wickedly, Greed looked up and said, "Guess I'm back, old man."

* * *

Al looked about the window of his now-empty apartment. "It's raining harder," he cried softly.

* * *

Alphonse, Mustang, Hawkeye, and the others searched for a week, to no avail. It was the ninth day of Ed's disappearance..

* * *

Greed walked around the room for what must have been the billionth time. "Hey, old man," he said, "Can I go out into Central? I'm bored, there's nothing to do. I'm seriously craving some fresh air, here."

Father sighed. "Greed, if only to stop your complaining, you may go."

Greed pumped his fist. "Yes!" And sprinted out the exit. Once out of Father's hearing, he said to himself, "Now to stir up a little trouble."

_We better be going to see my brother_, the voice in the back of his head said.

"We might," Greed replied. "It depends on how interesting the meeting will be."

As it turned out, he caused a little too much trouble and ended up being chased down my the Flame Alchemist. After a while, the pursuer changed to Edward's brother, Arthur.

_Alphonse,_ Ed reminded, annoyed.

"Sure, whatever," Greed mumbled. Greed fought Alphonse, and won. Alphonse saw his face, and blacked out.

"Hah HAH! Did you see his face when he saw my face!" Greed crowed.

_You mean _my_ face_, Edward said.

"Nope, my face. It's mine now, and will be forever."

_At least take him home, before he freezes. It's cold._

"And why would I do that? That doesn't help me at all."

_Oh yes, it doesn't. Cause if you don't, I will bother you so much more.._

"Remind me why I agreed to your deal? I should have crushed you when I had the chance."

_Cause you were to lazy to fight me._

"Shut up."

_You asked._

Greed sighed, mumbling something about stupid kids who didn't know when to shut up. He picked up the boy and sprang nimbly over the rooftops, directed by Edward, to where the kid lived.

Upon Ed's insistence, Greed stayed to make sure the kid was fine when he woke up. He was, until he realized that what he saw was not a dream. Greed could feel Ed's heart breaking a little, but before Ed could tell him to stay again, he said angrily, "You do realize that every time he sees me he's just going to freak out again? You're not doing him, or me, any favors by doing this. Now, if you would excuse me, I'm leaving." Greed stepped over Al and left.

Edward was silent, which Greed took to be an "alright".

"Now, I have a life that I want to enjoy."

* * *

**Hah hah!! I feel so happy.. without the author's note, this chapter was a little over 3,000 words! (and 7 pages in OpenOffice Writer!) I just got into a kind of groove, I suppose, and wrote and wrote. (feels proud of self) Anyways, FMA isn't mine, and have a good evening!**

**-Flameses**


	3. Psychotic Reaction

_Gone Forever_

_A FMA Fanfiction_

_Chapter 2_

_Psychotic Reaction_

_

* * *

_

_the next morning_

Roy was doing paperwork. It was usually a task much dreaded by him, but his morning he was going through it with interest. This wasn't ordinary paperwork, but the witness reports of the homunculus from the previous day.

"_Witness reports seeing a lone figure springing over the rooftops.."_

Roy discarded that one.

"_Witness saw explosion, then a figure leaping out of smoke.."_

He tossed that one in the trash bin as well. "Isn't there anything in these reports worth reading?" he asked, exasperated. "They all say the same thing.." He continued. He needed something to help him identify the homunculus, like where its tattoo was or it's hair color, anything. He found nothing. In fact, he was about torch the entire stack before one of the last reports caught his eye- it was longer than the others.

"_Witness reports seeing lone male figure running down 7__th__ street, reports that for a brief moment hood of subject's cloak fell back, revealing a head of blond hair before subject brought hood back up with left hand. Witness also reports that the subject's left hand seemed to have a slightly circular tattoo of some sort."_

"Finally," Mustang said, a small smile on his face. "The ouroboros on the left hand.. It seems we're dealing with Greed. And the blond hair should help us recognize him if he has his hand covered." Remembering something, be picked up his phone and quickly dialed a number, mumbling, "If I can catch her before she leaves.."

The phone rang, once, twice, three times.

"Hawkeye," came the feminine voice from the other end.

"Lieutenant, glad I called before you left," Roy began.

"I was just leaving, Colonel."

"Hey, I just remembered something. I should have checked up on Al, we haven't seen him since he went tearing off after Greed. I was just so preoccupied..."

"So it is Greed, then? I suppose you would like me to pick Alphonse up on my way to HQ, sir?"

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Oh, and one more thing. Could you ask Alphonse about his fight with Greed? He may have seen something we didn't, the only thing witnesses report seeing is that he has blond hair, now."

"Yes, sir, no problem." She hung up.

As he set the phone back down, Roy had a small thought. _Wait, Edward has blond hair. Could he possibly- Nah. Couldn't be_. Shaking his head at such what seemed a ridiculous thought, Roy returned to his work.

Alphonse woke to a loud-sounding knocking at his front door. Groaning, he sat up, then stood. He rubbed his head as he walked to the door. _Why was I on the floor?_ He wondered. Suddenly, he froze as the events of the last 24 hours came flooding into his brain. _So it was true_, he thought, wide eyed. He was suddenly terrified, frozen, trying to made sense of everything. He was on the verge of a full-blown mental breakdown before-

"Alphonse?" came the muffled voice on the other side of the door. "Are you home?"

Recognizing the voice, Al managed to pull his mind out of it and answer the door. "Sorry, Lieutenant Hawkeye," he said. "I was, uhh, asleep. Please, come in."

"Thanks, Alphonse," she said gratefully. "It's a little chilly out there. Anyways, are you busy? The Colonel asked me to bring you over to HQ. We saw the signs of your fight with the homunculus, I mean Greed, but couldn't find you anywhere. It didn't occur to anyone to look for you at your apartment," she added with a wry grin.

Alphonse gulped. "Do you know anything else about Greed?"

Hawkeye shook her head. "Not really, other than the fact that he has blond hair. We were hoping you could tell us more, as you got close enough to fight with him."

"Uhh, yeah," Alphonse said a little nervously. What would they say when they found out it was his brother? _But it's not Brother anymore_, said the logical side of him. _It's just Greed using Brother's now-empty shell_. The phrase "empty shell" made Alphonse shudder. Did this mean that Edward was gone for good?

He blinked. "Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked. "Are you all right? You just stared in to space for a while."

"Oh, no, thanks, I'm fine. Just had a sudden thought." He forced a grin. "I'll be just a sec."

He was still dressed from yesterday, so he quickly combed his long, mouse brown hair back in to a horsetail and went out to meet the Lieutenant.

* * *

"Come in," Mustang said in response to the knock on his door. Seeing the two who entered, he said, "Morning, Lieutenant, Alphonse."

"Good morning, sir," Hawkeye replied. Alphonse quietly echoed her.

Roy got right down to business. "Al, we know you fought with Greed. Can you tell us any details about him that may help us to capture him?"

Al stared at the colonel, eyes wide, before bursting into tears.

Roy was utterly confused. Hawkeye pulled Al around to face her. "What's wrong, Alphonse? Did something happen?" she asked.

He nodded, but said nothing. He was trying to stop, but the tears just kept coming.

"Come on, Al," Hawkeye said in a soothing voice. "Is this something to do with Edward? Did Greed tell you anything about him? Where they're keeping him?"

Al sniffed. The tears where slowing now. "Kind of," he whispered, his voice cracked from crying.

"How can it be 'kind of'?" The colonel asked a little angrily. "He either knows or he doesn't."

"Calm down, Colonel," said his lieutenant, her voice icy. "You're not helping."

Recognizing her tone of voice, Mustang promptly shut up.

"Now, Alphonse, can you speak now?" She asked, as the sobs had quieted.

"Yeah," he said, still quietly. "I guess I can tell you guys everything. Just, please, don't interrupt me, cause if you do, I don't know if I'll be able to start again."

The other two nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll start with when I last saw you two. I was chasing Greed.." He told them about his fight with Greed. "Then, when he had knocked me to the ground, I transmuted a spear and accidentally slashed off the cloth covering most of his face. It.. It was.. Edward. Well, you know, not Edward, but, uhh, Greed using his.. body.." He began to cry again, though not so hard as last time- just a few tears running down his face.

Mustang's eyes widened as Hawkeye stifled a small gasp. She recovered first. "Are you.. sure? Al?"

Al nodded. There was no mistaking that face.

"Sir?" Hawkeye tapped her superior in the shoulder, who was still frozen. He blinked, shaking his head as if to clear it. "Yes? Oh, sorry," he said. "I was just.." He stopped, not knowing the right word.

"Distraught? Cause that's certainly how I feel right now," Al said a little angrily from the other side of the room. He narrowed his eyes for a quick second. There was something he had forgotten- what was it?

"That settles it," the colonel said. "We absolutely have to capture Greed. But we have to do it quietly. The regular military can't know about this. In fact, no one can. If the people find out that their 'Hero of the People' is a- a homunculus, it will cause nothing but trouble.. Sadly, because he's Greed,a homunculus, we can't afford to take precautions. We have to take him by any means necessary, including force.. No matter who he used to be," he added a little forcefully at the end. "The rest of the crew, we can bring into this, however. Fallman! Fury! Breda! Havoc!" He shouted, bringing them stumbling into the room before they snapped to attention. Their Colonel explained the situation to them, emphasizing the need for extreme secrecy. They were surprised, but the look on the colonel's face was enough to keep them silent. "Now, I need you four to search Central, especially places we know to be Greed's old hangout, like the Devil's Nest. You have permission to use deadly force, because he is a homunculus, no matter who he used to be."

"But.. We can't hurt Ed!" said one, Fury.

"He's not Ed anymore. The one using his body is the homunculus Greed," said Mustang angrily.

"But," Fury began.

"If you can't do this, Fury, I'm sure you wouldn't mind my finding someone who can!" roared the colonel.

Fury was silent. He and the other three turned to leave, when-

"Wait!" Al said. "I just remembered something." When they all turned to face him, he explained quickly, "I passed out after my fight with Greed. I woke up at home, so Greed must have brought me home! He can't be all bad, then, can he?"

"Alphonse," Roy began.

"No, wait," Alphonse kept going. "At home, when Greed thought I was knocked out, well I was, but not all the way, I heard him say something, something important. He said that he wasn't going to help me or even come see me, but that my brother wouldn't stop nagging at him until he did. So, Ed must be still in there somewhere, or he couldn't have told Greed anything!"

"So, Ed might still be alive?" an excited Fury wanted to know.

"Alphonse, you were knocked out. You could have just thought you heard that."

"But I wasn't! Just.. mostly out. But not all the way!"

"Al, we know you want your brother to be still there, but if what you said is true, we have to go after Greed."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, Al, there's nothing else I can do." Mustang turned. "You four, go search."

They left.

"Al, whether or not Ed is still in there, Greed is still a homunculus, and dangerous. It's my job to go after him. Come on lieutenant, we should search as well. And Al, I don't want you going after Greed, at all. Go home and stay there." With that, Mustang left.

Hawkeye followed him, squeezing Al's shoulder on the way by. "I'll see what I can do, Al, but the Colonel's really shaken by all this. And this probably won't comfort you, but if Greed attacks him, I will have no choice but to shoot." She left, as well.

Once he was sure they were gone, Alphonse stood. There was no way he was going to sit at home while they were hunting down Edward- no, Greed. Whether or not it was his brother, Greed still had his body. "I'm coming, Brother," he whispered, and ran out the door.

_So…_ Ed was curious. _Do you have any of the old Greed's memories?_

"Not really," replied the homunculus. "Flashes, glimpses of people and places, but that's pretty much it. Nothing solid. But there is this one place that caught my attention. I think I –the old Greed- used to hang out there. Would you know anything about that?" He continued to walk down the street, cloaked and hooded. Edward had warned him that there would probably be a lot of people looking for him, and he was pretty recognizable.

_Hmmm… I think so. _The Devil's Nest_, I think it was called. Oh, yeah, I remember. You and your chimera friends used to hang out there._

"Chimera friends? I don't remember anything like that."

_Yeah, you had a regular gang. There was this one girl who was part snake, a lizard guy, a dog guy, and a really big one. I can't remember what kind of chimera he was, but it was something big. You sure you don't remember? They seemed pretty memorable._

"Not to me. Maybe if I met one face to face, but nothing just from your lame descriptions."

_WHAT?! I thought they were pretty good descriptions! I mean, what else is there to know? Animal and gender, that's all I really remember!_

Greed grinned widely. "Well, I dunno, maybe what they looked like. Was the girl a good one? Ya know what I mean, looks wise? Ahh, why am I asking a little pipsqueak like you, anyway.."

_WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU WANT TO CRUSH HIM LIKE AN ANT?! AND WHO ARE YOU TO TALK, YOU'RE THE ONE WALKING AROUND IN MY BODY!!_

Greed laughed. "Hey, there, little guy, calm down. I suppose you're a little bit right, but it doesn't matter anyway. I don't care how I look, so long as I don't look bad. I'm not Lust, after all. Thank goodness I'm not Lust, anyways," he added.

_Stuff like this makes me really wish I could punch you._

"Sure it does. So, where is this Devil's Nest, anyways? I'm getting tired of just walking around."

_You don't get tired that easily. Heck, I don't get tired that easily._

"It's just an expression. I'm getting bored. So, come on, where is it?"

Greed heard what must have been a sigh. _Come on, I'll show you._

Edward led the way (metaphorically speaking) to the Devil's Nest. _Oh, and by the way, _Ed said_. I'm pretty sure the bartender was in it with you too. He probably won't recognize you, but if you show him your tattoo or something, he might show you to the room where you used to hang._

"Hmmm," Greed said, "I suppose that makes things easier." By that time, they were standing in front of the somewhat trashy bar.

"Here goes nothing," mumbled Greed as he walked in.

A bell over the door rang. The bartender looked up from wiping a dirty glass. "Can I help you?" He asked, not sounding like he would like to do anything of the sort.

Greed pushed back his hood. "Hey, aren't you that alchemist fellow?"

"Nope, sorry," the homunculus replied, raising his left hand. "Does this ring any bells?"

The bartender's eyes went wide. "Master Greed?" he asked.

"In the flesh," said Greed, grinning. "Now that we're acquainted, would you mind showing me to my previous, uh, quarters?"

"My pleasure, Master Greed," he said, making a small bow. He put down the glass and cloth and walked to the stairs. "If you would, this way, Master Greed."

"Now that's more like it," Greed said under his breath.

"If I may ask, Master Greed, why is your appearance so.. different?"

"That is an excellent question. Remind me to tell you some other time."

"Oh, Master Greed, don't worry, I was just curious, I will not ask again if you do not wish to tell me."

"That's fine by me, old man," said the homunculus. "Now, onward."

They reached the room. "A little dusty, but doable," Greed said, surveying the room.

"Would you like anything else, Master Greed?" asked the bartender. "Your usual, perhaps?"

"Sure."

"Yes sir, Master Greed." The bartender left.

_What are you doing, ordering drinks? I'm only 17!_

"It doesn't matter anymore, kid. I'm a homunculus. Alcohol doesn't do anything, I don't get drunk, it doesn't mess up my liver. I just like the taste."

_That besides, will you ask him to stop with the 'Master Greed, this,' and 'Master Greed, that'? It's getting on my nerves._

"Excuse me for living. Anyways, don't you know my name? I want money, I want women, I want booze, heck, someday I'm gonna rule the world. There's no limit to my greed, kid."

The bartender came, set down a tray with a shot glass and tequila, and left.

Greed poured himself a shot and downed it after taking off his long, gray cloak and reclining into a chair. "This is a bit better. Now, If I had some women in here-"

_Oh, no, not with MY body. There is no way you're gonna do THAT with MY body._

"You're forgetting an important fact- This isn't your body anymore. It's mine and always will be, from now until the day we both die. Not that I'm planning on dying, ever."

_Dude, I'm a fucking virgin!_

"We can fix that," Greed said absentmindedly.

_WHAT?!_

"Heh heh, calm down, kid," said Greed, downing another shot. "You're giving me a headache." He walked up to a mirror. "What's with the braid, anyway? Let's see if I can fix this." He took the tie off the end of the braid.

_Don't you go cutting my hair off._

"Stop acting like it's yours, seriously. I'm just putting it in something less.. girly." He ran his fingers though his hair to undo the braid. He pulled the hair through the tie into a horsetail, just a little above the base of his neck. He ruffled his bangs a little and said, "That's a bit better."

_You didn't even really _do_ anything._

"I did enough. This is more my style. Now, about the clothes, I guess there's really nothing I could do now. Well, I guess I could.." He pulled off his jacket and then the loose tank top underneath. He then called up his Ultimate Shield over his chest, in the same general shape as the tank top. "More protective, and easier to move around in," he mumbled as the pulled the jacket back on and did the zipper. Satisfied with his overall appearance, he sat back down, pouring himself another shot.

He set the glass down, looking up sharply. The room was under the main taproom, so with a homunculus' ear a lot could be heard from above. There came the sound of two pairs of running feet that stopped before running down the stairs.

"Dammit, you didn't tell me that other people knew about this place," Greed said angrily.

_Sorry, slipped my mind._

"How can something like that- Grrr, never mind, we need to leave. Any special exits?"

_Well, last time you escaped from here, you knocked a hole in the wall and escaped into the sewers._

"Which wall?"

_That one._ Greed felt a mental point toward the far wall. "It had to be the farthest one, didn't it?"

The door flew open and two men in the blue uniforms of the military charged in. _Fury and Fallman_, Ed offered.

"Freeze!" cried the officers.

"Sorry, fellas, no can do," replied the homunculus. He nimbly leaped over the couch to the far wall, and, calling up the Ultimate Shield on his arm, knocked a hole in the wall.

"Please," said one officer (_Fury_, Ed said) a little shakily. "We don't want to hurt you, for the sake of.. of who's body you're using, but if you move, we'll have to shoot."

Greed moved. They fired off several rounds quickly, but not quickly enough to surpass the Ultimate Shield. Before the resulting smoke cleared, Greed hopped through the hole and into the sewer system.

"Which way now?"

How am I supposed to know? I just saw you escape.

"Great," said Greed. "Guess I'll go.. that way." He went down the darkest passage, hoping they wouldn't see where he went. He wasn't really in the mood for a chase.

_Do you know where you're going?_

"Away from them."

_We could be walking straight into a trap!_

"What?"

_I hate to say this, but that bastard Colonel is smarted than he looks._

"Damn," he remarked as he continued off down the tunnel. There was a flickering light up ahead.

_Dammit_, echoed Edward when he saw the light. _The Colonel's waiting for us._

"Well, what do you suppose I do?"

_Just go fight him, I guess. It's too late to go back now, he probably knows we're here._

As if to confirm that statement, a voice called down the tunnel. "Greed, I know you're here. Come out of the shadows so I can see you."

Greed walked into the light, hands up. "All right, all right, you caught me. Whaddya want?"

The Colonel didn't answer at first, instead, he looked him up and down. "So Al was right," he muttered. "It really is Ed."

Greed grimaced. "This is getting annoying. Will people stop referring to me as Ed? I mean, the kid still thinks this is his body, but you too? That's a little more than I can bear."

"And it really is Greed, under Ed's skin," continued the colonel.

"It's not his skin anymore, it's mine," Greed reminded.

Roy Mustang sighed. "I do have to admit there have been times where I have wanted to give Edward a good beating, but this is a little different than what I had in mind. Think of it more as.. vengeance, for a dead friend."

Greed's golden slit-pupiled eyes widened a little as he grinned widely. "You're planning to fight me? Alone? Seriously? This is gonna be fun, I haven't had a real good fight in ages."

"What about Alphonse?"

"I thought of it as more of a.. warm-up, if you will."

"Think of it as you wish.. Pipsqueak," added the colonel, raising one gloved hand.

Greed cocked his head. "Is that supposed to be an insult? Cause I don't really care about that."

"Pity," replied Mustang, "I was just seeing if it set you off the way is did Edward."

Suddenly, Greed reeled back, clutching his skull. Grimacing, he looked up at the colonel. "Sorry," he said. "I'm gonna have to put you on hold for a sec." Turning away from Mustang, he hissed, "What do you want now? I'm trying to start a fight and I can't do that if you're giving me a killer headache!"

_WHO IS HE CALLING SO SHORT HE CAN ONLY FIND HIM UNDER A MICROSCOPE?!_

"Not this again.."

_WHO IS HE CALLING SMALLER THAN A PLANKTON IN THE SEA?!_

"He didn't say that-"

_LET ME FIGHT HIM! I WANT HIM TO SEE THAT I CAN STILL KICK HIS ASS, NO MATTER WHAT!_

"No! I'm fighting him, and you need to shut up!"

–

Roy Mustang was utterly confused. He had called the homunculus a pipsqueak as an experiment, and now he seemed to be having an angry conversation with himself? What was going- Had Al been right? Was Ed still in there?

"Fullmetal?" he asked quietly.

"What do you want, Colonel Bastard?" he said as he whirled around.

Roy's eyes widened. Was he actually speaking to Ed? His question was answered when Ed marched up to him, poking him hard in the chest with a finger. "Who are you calling short, Captain Spark?" he asked angrily.

Roy looked at him in confusion. What was this? "Ed?"he asked again.

Ed shook his head as if to clear it before a wide, wicked grin split his face. He stepped back. "Now, where were we?" asked the homunculus.

Roy thought a moment before answering. For that strange moment, the pupils in the golden eyes had been normal and round, as opposed to slitted like a cat's. "What was that?" he wanted to know.

Greed rubbed his temples. "The kid wanted to fight you, and caught me by surprise," he admitted, a little sheepishly.

"You mean.. He's still in there?"

Greed was back to acting like himself again. "Sure he is. A real pain in the brain, too. Would you refrain from the short comments? His raging gives me a killer headache." Greed studied the colonel's face. "Looks like you might be having second thoughts about fighting me, now. I have to interest in fighting someone who's gonna hold back. Normally, I would relish the advantage, but that headache really lingers.. Guess I'll catch you later, _Colonel._" Placing a joking emphasis on Mustang's title, he disappeared.

Mustang, now very confused, did not give chase.

* * *

**Wowz. 4,000 words, w/o authors note!**

**Woo hoo, chapter 2! Just so you know, I'm going to try to name the chapters after rock songs from now on. this one seemed to fit ^^**

**It may be a bit early for this, but I'd really like to thank the first three reviewers of this fic- Spockie, colorfulquirkcutieanimefan, and Koneko Hoshi! Thank you so much!**

**As always, please review!**

**-Flameses  
**


	4. Hold On, I'm Comin'

_Gone Forever_

_A FMA Fanfiction_

_Chapter 3_

_Hold On, I'm Comin'_

* * *

Greed slipped away from the confused colonel. It was easy to tell that the colonel had not been paying attention to him as he should have been, but instead staring off into space.

"Wow," Greed said with a chuckle. "What got into him?"

He received no reply from Edward.

"Hey, you in there," he said, annoyed at being ignored.

_I don't feel like talking, thanks, _came the testy reply.

_Stupid little kid_, Greed thought.

_I heard that._

"How is it that you can hear my thoughts but I can't get yours unless you're speaking to me?"

No reply.

Greed was annoyed, but was also tired of being ignored, so he shut up.

He continued jogging down the tunnel.

Meanwhile, Ed was thinking and talking to himself. _Now_, he thought as he paced around the inside of his mind. _What had that been earlier? I must have been too angry to realize that I had been in control for those few moments. Also too angry to remember that I'm being virtually held captive in my own mind, I didn't realize the importance. Dammit. I could have done something better with that moment than messing with the colonel. Though that was fun.. Now.. I guess I ended up in control because Greed was distracted- he let his guard down. That headache I gave him probably helped with that. Then Mustang called my name and there I was, on the outside._

He sat down cross-legged on the "floor" of sorts._ I feel all weird now, cooped up in here. I was mostly used to it, but in less than a minute I'm ready to be out and about again. _He put his head up and stared up into the swirling mass above, sighing. _I want outta here._ His thoughts continued on the same track as Greed continued to jog through the tunnels.

"Hey, Ed, are you listening?" asked Greed. "I'm seeing light ahead."

_And it's steady. It probably goes to the outside. When we get outside, I can lead you to this place-_

"I'm not going anywhere else you lead me. We're going where I want to go."

_But the last time I lead you someplace that you wanted to go!_

"Shut up!"

Ed frowned. _Then where do you want to go?_

"I don't know. But I'm leaving Central for a while. They can't find what isn't there."

_Fine then, let's wander about Amestris,_ came the sarcastic reply.

"But of course," Greed said with a grin. "Know any good places to leave Central?"

_I thought you didn't want my help._

"Well, kinda," Greed admitted.

_Well, you're not getting any._

"Thanks."

_No problem._

Greed exited the tunnel and pulled his bangs down to cover his face some. "Well," he mumbled to himself, "I guess if I just keep walking away from the center of the city, I'll eventually be out."

He looked down a few streets, chose a path, and started walking.

_two hours later_

"How large is this city, anyway?" Greed asked, exasperated. He had been walking for a long while. He wasn't tired, of course, but annoyed. "I guess _you_ would know how to get out of here?"

Edward, who had been silent for the most part for the past two hours, replied, _Sure do._

Recognizing that tone of voice as one picked up from himself, Greed gave what sounded like a growl. "And I guess you won't tell me how unless I cut some kind of deal with you?"

_Nope._

"Fine, then. I don't intend to make any kind of deal with you again. I'll find my own way out." He continued down the street.

_Have fun with that._

A few streets later, Greed stopped again. He must be going in circles. "How do you get out of here?"

_Do you intend on agreeing to my deal?_

"Not unless I hear it first. You're not gonna beat me at my own game. I practically invented deals, back in the day."

He heard what must have been a chuckle. _Well then, let me choose where to go once we're outta here, and I'll tell you the way out._

"You really want to choose where we're going that badly? What's up with you?"

_It's just a place that they probably won't look. The people there are mostly friendly._

Greed passed a hand over his face. "Fine. So how do I get out of here?"

_The city is virtually a circle, with most of the streets going in that circular pattern. But there are a few streets that go straight from the center, the military headquarters, to the city limits. That street to your right is one such road._

"That really is all there is to it?"

_Yeah. Try thinking before you go setting off in some random direction like that. You could have ended up right in front of the military HQ, and then we'd be screwed._

Greed turned onto the road Edward had described, and followed it out of Central.

* * *

_two hours earlier_

Hawkeye couldn't find the Colonel. They had been searching for Greed when he had suddenly frozen before muttering something to himself and running off, ordering her to go back to headquarters and staying there until he returned.

She had been confused at the order that she really hadn't wanted to follow, but an order was an order. _He better not get himself killed, _she had thought as she reluctantly returned to HQ. _I know I vowed to always protect him, but I suppose he does like not to be followed by a subordinate all the time._

She had waited a half hour before going out to find him. She found the place where they had been before he had run off and expertly began tracking him. _He obviously wasn't trying to hide his trail, _she thought._ This is easy. He must have really been in a hurry._

She followed his footsteps down into the sewer system. _Of course, _she thought_, if Greed had been hiding in the Devil's Nest, Fury and Fallman would have flushed him out and he would have gone into the tunnels._

She sniffed. A faint trace of smoke polluted the air. _He had to light a fire. I know it's dark down here, but he should have brought a lamp. But no, the great Flame Alchemist has to light something ablaze._

She followed the smell. After around fifty paces or so, she froze. Someone was running this way. Someone was running this way _fast. _She slipped into a large crack in the wall and stayed very still.

She caught a flash of black and light gold, clothing and hair, respectively. She knew this was supposed to be her target, but she had a different, more important priority at that moment. She was down here to find the colonel.

She made her way through the tunnel to her superior. She found him sitting by a once-flaming pile of trash, eyes closed, banging his head backwards against the sewer wall.

He must have heard her coming. Funny, seeing as she had had top marks in the "Stealth" category coming out of the military academy all those years ago. "I was stupid, Lieutenant. Stupid, stupid, stupid," he said, emphasizing each of the latter three words with the bang of his head on the wall.

"Sir?"

"I should have listened to Alphonse. He was right, Lieutenant. Edward really is still in there. I came in here, expecting to fight Greed, and instead I said something stupid and Edward walked up to me and insulted me. I didn't know what to do so I just stood there like an idiot."

"Are you sure it wasn't just Greed impersonating Edward? Homunculi can be pretty good at such things."

"You didn't see the look in his eyes, the rage on his face when I called him a pipsqueak. It was entirely Fullmetal." He gave a weak laugh. "I guess some things never change."

"I suppose that makes it even more important that we capture him- I mean them," she said.

"It really does." He stood. "But where would Greed go now? He had most certainly left Central."

"We don't know that, Colonel. We won't know until we have searched the city properly. But we should do it soon."

Mustang beckoned, and they began to walk toward the exit. "Thanks, Lieutenant."

"For what, sir?"

"Nothing."

* * *

_back to the present_

They had finally gotten out of Central. Looking about, Greed asked, "All right, kid, where to now?"

_It's a mining town called Youswell. Though I've only been there by train, I could probably get us there on foot._

"You mean you don't know where it is?"

_Not exactly. But I know the general direction and some landmarks that may help. We can go along the train tracks, though discreetly._

"I hate you."

_Thanks. Now go east. It was at least four hours by train, so we should get walking._

"Why does it sound like you're smiling?"

_Because I'm not the one who has to walk. Even homunculi get tired after a while, _said Ed with a grin.

"How would you even know that?"

_Well, since I'm right next to your mind, I can pretty much read it, _he said smugly.

"What? And why can't I do that?"

_Because you're not stuck in here._

"Well, think about it. I may have to walk, but at least I CAN walk!"

_Shut up, you lump of carbon._

"This used to be your lump of carbon."

_It's still my lump of carbon, you just stole it. I'm still alive; it's still mine!_

"Sure it is. You just keep telling yourself that, and I'll be on my way now," Greed said as he started off jogging down the track.

_Don't worry, I will_, thought Edward silently.

Greed cocked his head. He thought that he had heard something. He shook his head and pushed his jog up to a run. He wasn't going to walk all day.

--

That evening, Greed reached the edge of Youswell. He had made sure to speed up when he saw that the sun was beginning to retreat beneath the horizon. At the least he was going to sleep in a bed- he knew that he deserved better than a night outdoors. He would, of course, be fine sleeping out in the wilderness, but the opportunity to get some shut eye in a real bed was one he would much rather take.

He fixed his hair as he walked into town. All that running had loosened the tie holding it up. His stomach growled noisily. "Damn," he said to himself. "I shouldn't have run that much. I'm starving."

_I always did have to eat a lot._

"You don't know what you're talking about. Your internal systems were totally redone when I came in. The only thing that's even close to the old you is you, stuck in my head, and my appearance. This body is one hundred percent Greed, the homunculus."

_Besides the fact that it's still mine._

"Will you shut up about that? I'm not making that speech again."

_That 'speech' wasn't very long._

"I said shut up!"

Ed grinned.

"And quit your grin, too," Greed muttered.

_You should stop talking to yourself. People will think I'm weird._

"You mean they'll think _I'm_ weird."

_Sure._

Greed looked around. Edward was right, he supposed. Some old woman, sweeping her front porch, was looking at him strangely. "Who're you looking at, lady?" He asked, annoyed.

The woman stuck her chin up and stomped back into the house.

"What got her stockings in a bunch?" Greed asked jokingly.

_You, you idiot. I said people who knew me would be nice here. They're not going to be nice if you act like_ that.

Greed snorted, and walked on. _Know where I can find a place to sleep?_ He asked silently.

Edward sighed. _Keep following the road you're on. There's an inn not far down on the left._

"Alrighty, then," Greed answered. He walked down the street. After a while, he reached what looked suspiciously like an inn. "This the place you were talking about?"

_Yep. I guess you should just go in. They should remember me.. I think_.

"You think? I thought these people were good friends of yours!"

_They are, mostly. I mean, I helped them out a good bit._

"Jeez. Next time, I'm getting the entire story- who these people are, how well you know them, and everything."

_If you remember._

"Shut up." Greed pushed open the door to the inn and entered.

_Well, here goes._

Greed blinked as his eyes adjusted to the brighter conditions. A teenage boy walked up. "How may I help you, sir?" He asked.

"Uhhh," Greed began.

The boy looked at him again. "Hey, wait," he said, his eyes widening a little. He grinned, turning to a man bartending on the other side of the room. "Hey, Dad, it's Ed!" He said excitedly.

"The state alchemist?" replied the man.

"Yeah!"

Greed stood there, not really knowing what to do.

_Don't just stand there, you idiot, act like me!_ Edward said.

_What?_ Greed asked inside his head.

_Act like me, or they'll think- know there's something up!_

Greed thought a second. _But I don't really know how to act like you- hurry, tell me what to say!_

_There's no time for that! Here, get out of the way! Let me do it!_

_No! Just tell me something to say!_

_I told you, there's no time. They'll figure it out, anyway!_

Greed paused. _Do you promise to let me back in control when this is no longer necessary?_

_Yeah, fine, now get out of the way!_

_How do I do that?_

_I dunno, just relax or something!_ Greed felt a strong mental push, and he was on the inside, looking out.

The entire argument had taken about a second in real time. Edward ran a full over mental check to make sure everything was working before grinning.

"Edward, great to see you!" said the owner.

"Great to see you, too!" Edward replied.

"How have you been, Ed?"

"Fine, but enough about me, how have you guys been? How's business?"

"It's been going a lot better since you last left, thanks to you. Now, what can I do you for?"

"Well, I was traveling nearby and decided to stop by for the night," Edward said a little sheepishly. "Do ya mind if I find some other way to pay you for the room, though? I'm out of cash."

"Edward, you should've known that you could stay here for nothing. We owe you everything we have."

"Are you sure? I could help out with some things. What about the equivalent exchange?"

"Edward," the owner began.

"Well, I do have a shovel that needs mending," one of the miners nearby spoke up.

The owner turned back to Ed. "How about that? A room and a meal for a shovel?"

"Well... Fine," Ed gave in.

The miner went to get his shovel.

Edward talked with the miners about various things until the other miner returned with his broken shovel.

"Here you go," said the miner as he handed Ed his shovel, the blade bent and the shaft hanging.

Edward took the shovel and set it down on an empty table.

Greed, suddenly paying attention, spoke up. _What are you doing? You're going to blow our cover! I knew I shouldn't have let you in charge!_

_What?_ Ed asked silently.

_You're a homunculus, you dolt! Homunculi can't use alchemy, which means _you_ can't perform alchemy!_

Ed paled. _It didn't even occur to me. Dammit!_ If any of the miners noticed Ed's split second pause, they didn't say anything. Well, here goes nothing, he thought, clapping his hands together.

He placed his hands on the table in front of the broken shovel, not expecting anything. He winced. This was going to be hard to explain.

A blue light rose around the shovel. Ed's eyes widened a fraction. When the light faded, there the tool was, perfectly mended.

_What?_ Greed said._ That's not possible!_

_It's not possible,_ Edward thought without Greed hearing as the miners cheered. _It's not possible, but I did it._

He grinned -a fake grin, but passable for a real one- and handed the shovel back to its owner. "Anything else?" he asked above the cheering.

"Yeah, can you fix my chair?"

"How about my silverware?"

A chorus of voices ensued, before Ed raised his voice above the crowd. "Don't worry, guys, I can fix it. We've got all night, so don't worry about it!"

–

When Ed was finally done fixing the townspeople's various household objects, he collapsed on his bed in a room upstairs.

"Ahh, what a night," he said tiredly. He removed his gloves and boots.

_All right, fun time's over. Now give me my body back,_ Greed said.

"Are you planning on giving to to me again in the morning? They'll be expecting Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist, not Greed the homunculus."

_Whatever, just give it back. You swore._

"No, I promised. Swearing and promising are two very different things."

_Are you going back on your promise, then?_

"Nope, I'm just being practical. It's a lot easier for you if you just let me stay out here."

_Bahh. Fine, do what you want. But I expect to still be in this town when I wake up. Don't go doing anything stupid. Which means contacting your brother or the military. I mean it._

"Sure, sure," Ed said. "Night."

Silence.

"Didn't expect a reply," Edward muttered. He stripped down to his black undershirt and boxers and lay back down on his back on the bed. Turning his head, he gazed out the window. It felt so good to actually sleep in a bed again, with his own self doing the sleeping.

He stared out at Polaris, the North Star. _Remember that thing we said when we were little, Al? _he thought silently._ You and me, and Winry? We agreed that whenever we were separated, we would all look up at this star, every night. It was right after we read that story, the one about the friends who could hear each other speak when they all looked up at the moon. I'd almost forgotten. _

_I hope you remember too, Al. And I guess you too, Winry. I hope you can hear me. I know it seems like I'm gone, but I'm not, not entirely. If it's the last thing I do, I'll speak to you both, with my voice, not Greed's. I will return to you. Please, don't give up hope. I'll be there eventually._

He gave a short laugh. "Why am I even setting stock in this stuff?" he muttered. "It's not like it would really.. Well, I wish it would, anyway.."

With that, his head fell and he nodded off to sleep.

* * *

…_.Remember that thing we said when we were little, Al? You and me, and Winry?....._

Alphonse woke with a start. "Brother? Brother?" Silence was the reply. Had it been a dream?

"No," he said. "That had to be Ed, it had to be. Don't worry, Brother, I'll find you."

He got out of bed and dressed quietly, after which he went downstairs and packed money, food, and spare clothing into an over the shoulder bag. He grabbed his brother's red cloak and packed that as well.

"I'm coming, Brother," he said, walking out the door.

…_.Please, don't give up hope. I'll be there eventually.

* * *

_

**Another chapter!****Wah hoo!**

**Sorry this took so long, but I've been really busy.. (hides)**

**Sorry for the low Alphonse-action, I promise it's gonna pick up soon!**

**Thanks for reading (and please review!),**

**-Flameses  
**


	5. Trials and Tribulations

_Gone Forever_

_A FMA Fanfiction_

_Chapter 4_

_Trials and Tribulations_

_a few days later_

_He was falling, falling, falling... A deep, windy, watery abyss threatened to swallow him up as he fell... and fell.. He looked desperately down for the bottom, and, seeing none, looked up in equal haste for the top. But there was none. With an anguished scream, he have himself in to the inevitable.._

Ed woke with a start, gasping for breath. For a few terrifying seconds flashes of his nightmare haunted him, before disappearing entirely.

_What was that?_ He thought nervously. He couldn't remember even a hint of the nightmare.

_That's what I'd like to know,_ Greed said, annoyed. _You woke me up._

_Yeah, shuddup_, Ed thought with a half-awake shake of the head.

_Do I need to come back out there, pipsqueak?_

_WHO ARE YOU CALLIN-_ Ed stifled the yell, worried that he wasn't yelling entirely in his head. He didn't want to wake anyone up.

_Yeah, that's more like it._

_I said shut it!_

_And whose body is this?_

_Mine._

_Yeah, sure. You keep telling yourself that, shrimp._

Ed gritted his teeth as he stiffly got out of bed and pulled his pants, jacket, and boots on. He braided his hair with deft fingers as he walked out the door.

"Mornin', Ed!" the owner's son said brightly as Ed came down the stairs.

"Good morning," Ed replied, smiling. "What do you have this morning to eat? I'm starving!"

"Nothing much, just eggs, bacon, and orange juice," the boy replied, leading the young alchemist to a seat at the bar. He placed a steaming plate of the described food in front of the blond.

"Sounds great!" Ed exclaimed. "Looks great!" He dug into the food with gusto.

The owner's son grinned. "That's the Edward I know."

Ed gave him a grateful look and continued eating. The boy left, leaving the alchemist to his food.

Edward happily shoved the eggs into his mouth. He hadn't eaten in nearly a week. In Fullmetal time, that was nearly a year.

_Enjoying that, are ya?_

_Mmhmm._

_You realize that my body doesn't need that much food, don't ya?_

_Oh, yes, _my_ body does._

_I told ya, it's different now. This homunculus, Greed, is in every cell, every atom, of this body. It's MINE._

Ed inwardly sighed._ How many times are we going to have this argument? It's mine, end of story._

Greed growled._ Why didn't I destroy you while I could?_

_You'll be asking yourself that question for a long, long time._

_Damn you to hell, little brat._

Ed bristled. _WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD BE EATEN BY A TERMITE?_

_Heh heh heh... _Greed chortled at the alchemist's distress.

_But what would you know, _Greed shrank back at Edward's suddenly cold tone, _of hell, homunculus?_

_No need to get all testy, kid._

Ed didn't answer. He was now finishing up his food, wiping his plate clean with a piece of toast. He drained the glass of juice before standing. He grinned at the cook in thanks for the meal, and left the inn.

He consented himself with touring Youswell, quietly enjoying the feel of the sun on his face and the gentle breeze through his hair.

_What is wrong with you, kid? _Greed wanted to know. _What's happening? Do you absolutely need to be in control right now? I don't see why you're wasting my time walking all over the place. There's no one we need to fool right now, just some worthless strangers. Give me back control of my body._

Ed gave way without struggle or comment. Greed, not expecting to gain control so easily, nearly tripped when he was.

_What's wrong with- never mind._ Greed continued Ed's walk down the street. Anyone watching at the moment of the switch may have noticed that his stride had more of a swagger, more arrogance.

While Greed walked along, Edward was deep in thought. He was thinking about nearly everything. Everything related to the situation that he was currently in, that was. How was he able to perform alchemy, even though his body was that of a homunculus? Homunculi could not perform alchemy. It was absolutely impossible. That was a proven fact. Only humans could perform alchemy.

Another thing to consider: considering the abilities and qualities of homunculi, why did he still have his automail arm and leg? During his body's change from human to homunculus, they should have been pushed off and out of his body by the growth of a new arm and leg. Perhaps, as they worked just fine, for now, the philosopher's stone within him had not found the need to spend energy on an unnecessary task. Could the stone have a thought process? No. Perhaps there was just something that moderated he spending of energy? He wasn't sure. He was relatively sure, however, that if any of his limbs, including the automail ones, were chopped off entirely, they would be replaced by the power of the stone. It would take quite some thought, he was sure. He didn't want to test it out by trial and error, though.

As long as he had been fighting to regain his true limbs, he wasn't so sure that he wanted to hid himself of the automail just yet. It... reminded him, of all he had accomplished in his life. The automail was a testament to his wrongdoings in his, granted, not all that long life. But it also reminded him of his triumphs. It was the price he had paid, and he kind of wanted it to stay that way.

His thoughts continued in this fashion for quite some time.

By then, it was evening, and Greed was heading back to the inn for an evening meal. He was about halfway to the inn, before the sound of a large explosion caused him to jump.

_What the fuck was that?_

Ed seemed to come to the surface of his mind._ What? _He asked groggily.

_That explosion! _Greed said angrily. He turned so Edward could see the smoke rising above the buildings. _There! What's over there?_

_There was an explosion?_

_No duh, kid! How far were you under?_

_I can get pretty deep in thought sometimes._

_Any day now._

_That's where the mine is! C'mon, let's go! There could be people in there!_

_What's in it for me?_

_Do you always have to have some incentive?_

_My name _is_ Greed, kid._

_I'll be especially agreeable tomorrow._

_Done._

_Alright, let's go!

* * *

_

"Colonel, Alphonse Elric is nowhere to be found," Fury reported warily.

"What?" the colonel asked angrily.

"Sir, his traveling clothes are gone, as is his money and his travel bag. He has most likely gone to find his brother."

"Damn that boy. He must have picked that up from his brother, charging off without thinking. And I thought he was the sensible one.." Mustang growled, annoyed.

Hawkeye spoke up. "I'm sure you would have realized by now, Colonel, that no one can stop either of those boys once they have their mind set to it. Not even you, sir."

* * *

Alphonse wearily gazed out the window of the train. It had been a few days since he had left Central. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going, but something told him to head out in this general direction. Luckily, there had been a train leaving, so he had bought a last minute ticket and taken the train.

He hadn't told the Colonel or any of his crew where he was going, even that he was going. They most likely would have told him not to go, to wait until they ad more information. But he wasn't going to be held back.

He was going to find his brother.

"Next stop, Youswell Mining Town," one of the engineers called.

Al's ears perked at this. Youswell? Why did that ring a bell? Had he visited Youswell?

His head jerked up. That was it! He and his older brother _had_ visited Youswell! He remembered it all, now. He had nearly forgotten. He and Edward (well, mostly Edward, he admitted to himself) had freed it from the ownership of a greedy military leader... Yoki, that was his name. Ed managed to trick him into signing over the papers of ownership of the mines to him, then had given ownership of the mines to the people of Youswell. Yoki and his goons had then been driven out, Alphonse remembered with a grin.

Maybe his brother had gone to Youswell! No one there knew of the...incident. So far as Al knew, only he, the colonel, Hawkeye, and that group knew about Greed. Youswell was isolated enough that no one would have thought of searching there, not yet.

That's it. He was going to get off the train at Youswell. It was worth a try, anyways.

* * *

Greed ran with inhuman speed towards the mines.

_Give me control, will ya? They could probably use a few things transmuted out of the way._

_No, not yet. If I do need you, you'll come out then. You can't run this fast, anyways._

_Fine._

When Greed reached the mines, a few miners ran up to him, beckoning urgently. The terror of the incident was written clearly on their faces.

"Edward!" one said, "We need your help! We think someone hit a pocket of gas, and their lamp ignited it. We know there are several miners trapped inside, including the innkeeper's son. But, there are several large rocks blocking the way. No one can move them... Sorry to ask this of you, but do you think... As you are kind of... small, you could squeeze through and rescue them?"

Knowing that Edward would have been furious at this comment, Greed pretended to bristle some. He pretended to get his feelings under control and told them he would to it. He ran closer, up to the mine.

_Nice acting there,_ Edward said with a chuckle.

_Meh._

_Well, let me outta there, I can transmute them out of the way._

_No, I can just smash or lift them out of the way._

_That will attract suspicion._

_Fine. I'll just crawl in befitting to the pipsqueak we are._

_HOW DARE YOU-_

_Shut it, kid._

With that, Greed spotted a hole he could slip through and entered the mine.

* * *

The train had pulled up to the station at Youswell. Al got off the train, stretching his arms and legs after the long journey. With a start, he noticed the smoke from the still-fresh explosion spiraling up into the sky.

He tucked his bag into a tree where he hoped no one would notice it and sprinted off toward the mine.

* * *

Greed coughed. The gas and fumes from the explosion were suffocating. He tore some fabric off his jacket and held it over his mouth and nose as he climbed through the wreckage.

_I hear someone- over there!_

Greed turned in the direction of Ed's mental push. Sure enough, there was a miner, laying on his side.

"Come on," Greed grunted, "Alley oop." He lifted the miner, tossing the larger man over his soldier. He then picked his way through the wreckage and set the miner down near the entrance- he would get the rocks out of the way when he had everyone. He didn't want to risk the mine coming down over all of their heads.

Using Edward's uncanny sense of hearing (_I guess it's amplified, being inside your mind_, he said.), he and Greed managed to find and recover six more miners.

_Just a few more,_ Ed said.

Greed nodded, coughing, and headed back in.

* * *

Alphonse reached the mine.

One of the miners ran up. "What are you doing here? Kids should stay away," he said.

Al realized that none of the miners would have recognized him, as he had been a suit of armor the last time he had visited. "I'm an alchemist," he assured the miner. "I can help."

"Any help we can get would be much appreciated, even if you are just a kid," the miner said gratefully. "The Fullmetal Alchemist went in there not 20 minutes ago."

Al's eye's widened, and he charged off into the mine.

* * *

_Just two more, then the innkeeper's son_, Edward informed Greed.

_Alright,_ Greed grunted mentally. He couldn't waste the breath on talking.

He found and recovered the last two miners, then made his way over towards the young boy.

* * *

Alphonse had reached the innkeeper's son. The young boy was coughing badly, and was half-asphyxiated.

"Are you alright?" he asked urgently.

The boy coughed, nodding a little.

"You're going to be alright," Al assured him gently. "Just let me get you outta here, ok?" He lifted the boy with a grunt over his shoulders. "Let's go." He began to trudge off toward the exit of the mine.

On his way out, he nearly dropped the boy. He heard a voice, saying "He's just over here..." And then his brother trudged into view.

For a few seconds, they stared at each other, eyes wide.

"Brother?" Alphonse asked in a small voice.

Edward/Greed said nothing, and charged off a different tunnel shaft.

* * *

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. What is that kid doing in here?" Greed said in a rage. "He's going to mess up everything-"

_Let me out! LET ME OUT! Alphonse! Al! AL! I'm-_

"Shut the hell up, kid! You're just messing up our chances of making it outta here in one piece!" Greed admonished angrily.

_I DON'T CARE, LET ME OUT, YOU BASTARD!_

"You're giving me a fucking headache, you moron. SHUT THE HELL UP."

* * *

Alphonse had to stop himself from abandoning the boy and going after the homunculus/his brother. He gritted his teeth and kept going, aware of his duty to the boy. He was just nearly out when he heard and felt the trembling of the ceiling above him. It was about to give way. He ran faster, hoping to get out before-

He tripped, falling hard on his face. Struggling to get up, as the fall had knocked all the wind out of him, he felt sure that he was going to die. He closed his eyes..

But the rocks never came.

"C'mon, get out of here, ya stupid kid," Greed said.

Al looked up. Greed was holding up the ceiling.

"Are you just going to stand there, gawking like an idiot, or are you going to get out of there and save that kid?"

Al scrambled to his feet, running as fast he could out of the mine.

"Hurry kid, I can't do this forever, you know," he heard Greed yell behind him. Then, in a different tone that he could have sworn was his brother's, he said, "I'll be right out after ya, Al."

Alphonse ran on, until he got out of the mine. Setting the boy on the ground, he wasn't sure whether the tears streaming out of his eyes were from the smoke or otherwise. He heard the mine collapse behind him.

He realized he was swaying, then couldn't keep standing any longer. He gave himself in to unconsciousness as he fell, though he thought he felt himself being caught by something hard- it felt like a metal hand.

"Nice job in there, Al," he thought he heard, before he fell into the blackness.

* * *

_the next morning_

A few hours later he came to.

"Brother?" he said, sitting up quickly. "Ohh," he then groaned, holding his head in his hands.

"Easy there, kid," someone said next to him. "You must have hit your head in there. You've got a pretty big lump on your head."

Rubbing his head, Al looked around. Sitting next to him was one of the miners who hadn't been in the mine. "You did a good job in there, kid. Thanks to you and the Fullmetal Alchemist, everyone's safe, including the boss's son. We're all grateful."

"I was nothing," Alphonse mumbled. "Wait, is Ed- I mean, the Fullmetal Alchemist alright? I didn't see him come out."

The miner chuckled. "You wouldn't have seen much of anything, after coming out of there. You collapsed right after getting out. Yeah, the Fullmetal Alchemist is fine. In fact, he caught you so you wouldn't hit your head again when you fell."

Al's eyes widened. "Is he here?"

The miner shook his head. "Nah, he left soon after he made sure everyone was taken care of. We begged him to stay, at least to get that cough of his settled, but he just told us that he'd be better faster than we thought and he probably shouldn't be here when you came to. I dunno why, it was a little peculiar. Know of any reason why he would have said something like that?"

"Not sure," Al replied. "He is my brother, though."

The miner looked at him quizzically, but didn't pry when he saw the look on the young alchemist's face. Making sure Alphonse had everything he needed, he soon left.

"Why did you leave, Brother?"

* * *

_a few hours earlier_

Greed slung his/Edward's jacket over his shoulder. "Well," he said, "guess it's time to be going. We can't have your brother catching up with us, now can we?"

Ed seemed like he was about to say something angry, so Greed reminded him, "Hey, you told me if I helped those people you'd be especially agreeable today. I want no annoying headaches or remarks, got it, kid?"

Edward grumbled some words that sounded suspiciously like curses.

"Hey," Greed admonished.

Ed was silent.

"Now, that's more like it," Greed said, and walked out of Youswell.

* * *

**Sorry it's been so long ^^;**

**To be honest, I kinda/nearly/almost forgot about this. But, I was checking my email (as I rarely do nowadays) and found a few reviews that made me really want to write again.**

**Thank you, to all of you!**

**Thanks to Doubleblade Miriko, KuroiWing, snake (anon), xXSMiZXx, DragonsRuleYourDreams12, Crazy-Mellow-Chan, Spockie, The Spirit Alchemist, Koneko Hoshi, and colorfulquirkcutieanimefan.**

**Hopefully, I'll be able to keep going! ^^;**

**~Flameses  
**


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